Apparatus for treating snap-bolls.



J. A. SHIELDS.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING SNAP BULLS,

APPLICATION FILED I-IAYZZ. 1911,

Patented JmLQ, M312.

JAMES A. SHIELDS, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING SNAP-BULLS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 22, 1911. Serial No, 628,820. r

To all whom it may concern: e

Be it known that I, Jain-1s A. SHIELDS, a citizen of the United ofGeorgia, have invented certaiirnew and useful Improvements in Apparatusfor ,Treating Snap-Rolls; and I do hereby de- "clare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and'usethe same.

The present invention relates to a process of and apparatus for treatingsnap bolls of cotton, and has for its purpose to provide a means to beused in connection with the apparatus for the same purpose (liSClostd innly Patent-No. 99%,(309, dated June (3, 1911, to theend that then'zaterial may be transferred through the different stages of. theoperation at such intervals that said matOLlEll goes through adisintegrating or loosening and cleaning process, thus presenting thesame in bettercondition for treatment than if itwere transferred in bulkAs clearly'sct forth in the above identified application these snapbolls are bolls titled with fully matured cotton but which have notcracked open because of being frost bit ten before or just at the timewhen they were beginning to crack, and to recover the Cotton containedin these bolls, which amounts to ct'insiderablc, is the purpose ofapplications.

t view the intention consists in the steps and combination of steps; andailrangement and combination of parts of apparatus herc1n-. afterclaimed, and white line invention is not. restricted to the exact:details shown from which said bolls may be delivered to the chuteeitherby hand, belt elevator or pneumatic conveyer of any appropriatecon struction. From the chute l the bolls are fed into a breaker 2 by atoothed roller 3 States, residing at 1 Atlanta, in the county of Fultonand State and a spiked roller 4 shown diagrammatically in the presentdrawing. From the rollers 3 and 4 the bolls are delivered on to thebreaking apparatus proper, and which consists in a belt 5 traveling onpulleys 6 in the direction of the arrow, which belt conveys the bolls toa similar belt 7 traveling on pulleys 8 in the direction of the arrow.The outer pair of pulleys 6 and 8 are disposed in such relation that thematerial carried by the belt 5 is deposited upon the belt 7, and theinner pair of pulleys are disposed in closer relation than the outerpairto bring the bolls into such position that the bolls are subjectedto a crushing action, after which they are fed by a chute 9 into a receiver '10 at the lower end of a pipe or conduit 11. The top belt 5 mayrelnainstationary and only the bottom belt run, since with thisarrangement the work may be done as effectively as if both belts arerunning as above stated. It is preferred, however, to have both of thebelts running and the top belt running at a slower speed than the bottombelt for the reason that it enhances the capacity of this element of theapparatus. From the receiver 10 the crushed bolls are conveyed bysuction through the pipe 11 and into the pipe 12, where they aredelirered to a feeder contained within the casing 13 secured at thelower vend of the pipe 12. The suction means for carrying the materialconsists in a fan 14 drawing through a pipe 15 that communicates withthe pipe 12. The crushed bolls are delivered to the feeder in the formof a bat which needs to be broken 01' disintegrated to prevent theapparatus from clogging, and to effect which said feeder consists in atoothed roller 1G and a spiked roller 17, shown diagrammatically in thisillustration, and 'a larger roller 18 adapted to coact to separate thehat. The broken bat is next delivcred to a separator having a hopper 19that receives the material from the chute 20 of the feeder. Theseparator consists of asaw cylinder 21 working through a plurality ofribs 22 that are secured to beams 23, and a spiked cylinder 24. Insteadof employing this spiked. cylinder a bristle brushmay Patented Jan.2,1912.

be employed as is used in' the ordinary g n. A rotatable cylindricalscreen 25 is located directly beneath said spiked cylinder,'and i 7explained.

within a trough 26, whence it is carried off by a spiral conveyer 27.The screen 25 is operates with the saw cylinder 21 to remove the bollhusks or pods as they are separated from the seed cotton, and areceptacle 31 is provided to receive said husks as they are removed bythe spiked cylinder 30. When a suihcicntamount of seed cotton has beendeposited beneath the pipe 29 said cotton is conveyed by suction throughthe- -pipe29 and delivered into a pipe. 32 and then fed to a gin feederlocated within the casing 33. The necessary suction Within the pipe 29for conveying the material asjust stated consists in a pipe 34communicatin with the pipe 32' and which branches 0 from the pipe 15that leads to the fan 14. An arrangement is provided and will bepresently described for causing suction through either of the pipes 11or 29 while one ofsaid pipes is closed. I l The gin feeder in the casing33 comprises a pair of rollers 35 and 36 and a cotiperating largerroller 37 constructed and operating on the same principle as the feedercontained in thecasing 13. From the feeder the seed cotton is deliveredby a chute 38. into the hopper 39 of a gin 40, which may be either ahuller gin 'or plain gin, and from the gin 40 the ginned cotton isdesigned to be conveyed to a condenser 41. The cotton seed which isseparated'by the gin is deposited into a receptacle 42, from where itmay be carried ofi when necessary.

The means forcausing suction in either of the pipes 11 and 29, andclosing the other, consists man oscillating valve 43 fulcrumed at 44 inthe pipe 15 and having a slotted cnd member 45. A sprocket wheel 46carrying a chain 47 is designed to be driven from the shaft. of the fan14. The chain 47" is provided with projecting members 48 disposed atsuitable intervals and designed to contact with opposed arms 49 that areloosely journaled on the shaft of the sprocket 46. A stud 5 0 is securedto one of said arms and moves within the slotted end 45 of theoscillating valve. As the chain 47 travels over the sprocket 46 theprojecting members 48 successively engage with the arm 49 projecting tothe left and bring said arm around to the position occupied by the armshown on the right, and in so doing cause the slotted arm of the valve43 to be moved first to one side and then to the other of the pipe 15,which moves'the valve 43 to open and close the pipes 15 and 3411s willbe rind erstood. I

The receptacles 26' and 42' for the pods and cotton seeds respectivelyare not absolutely necessary to the carrying out of the operation, asthe dirt which would fall in the conveyer receptacle 26 can be droppedthrough the floor and in like manner the pods and seeds can be allowedto. drop through the floor and then carried away after accumulation.

At the point where the pipe 15 cominunicates with the pipe 12 there isprovided a screen 42* of fine mesh, thepurpose whereof being to preventthe material from entering into the pipe section 15,-:when the same isentering, the pipe 12 from the ipe 11. A valve consisting of two fiexibe members 43 is secured within-the pipe 12 immediately above the rollers16 and 17 and has for its purpose to allow of an accumulation ofmaterial which will by its own weight open said valve and fall upon therollers 16 and 17; and a further purpose of said valves is to close offsuction through the pipe 12 and prevent any material from being carriedback through said pipe 12, as will be understood. In like manner thepipe 32 is .provided with a fine mesh screen 45 located to close theopening into the pipe 32 and prevent material from being carried throughsaid pipe. A valve 46 constructed similar 1 to the valve 43 is mountedin the pipe 32 between the screen 45 and the crushing rollers 35 and 36and is adapted to act in a similar capacity as said valve 43.-

Itis obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spiritof my invention, and therefore I- do not wish to be limited to ','suchfeatures eilcept as may be required by the claims.

What I claim is 1. In an apparatus for treating sna bolls,thecombination of a crusher adapted to form the bolls into a hat; abreaker for disintegrating the bat; a. pneumatic com veyer fortransferring the bat from thecrusher to said breaker; a separatoradapted to separate the broken bat into husks and fiber;.a gin; and'apneumatic conveyer for transferring the fiber from the separator to thegin, substantially as described.

2 In an a paratus for treating snap bolls, the combination of a crusherfor forming the bolls into a bat; a disintegrater for breaking the bat;a pneumatic conveyer for transferring the bat from the crusher to theconveyer; a separator adapted to separate th broken bat into husks andfiber; means as ociated with the separator for screening the dirt fromthe separated fiber; a second breaker locateda considerable distancefrom the separator; a pneumatic conveyor for transferring the fiber fromthe separator to the second breaker and effecting to render the fiberfiufiy; and a gin located adjacent 15 extending from the point ofaccumulation I the second breaker, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus for treating snap bolls, the combination of acrusher'comprising a pair of movable belt-s; a breaker comprisingco-a'cting rollers; a pipe leading from said crusher to the breakerproviding a conduit for the bat; a separator disposed beneath saidbreaker and'adapted t0 separate the broken bat into husks and fiber; a 2

screen adapted to effectthe removal of foreign substance from theseparated fiber; means for efl'ecting an accumulation of the separatedfiber; a. second breaker; a pipe of the fiber to said second breaker andproviding a conduit for the fiber; means for creating suction in eitherof said pipes and shutting off suction through the other thereof; a ginlocated adjacent the second breaker; and a condenser located adjacentthe gin, substantially as' described.

4.111 an apparatus for treating snap bolls, the combination of a crushercomprising a pair of cooperating belts for forming the material into abat; one of said belts being disposed above-and shorter than the 9 otherwhereby to carry the material to the I lower belt; means for depositingthe snap i bolls 1n unlform quantities on said shorter if belt: abreaker comprising co-acting rollers;

ia pipe leading from the breaker to said rollers and providing a conduit'for the bat; Ea separator disposed beneath the breaker and adapted toseparate the broken bat into husks and fiber; a rotatable cylindricalscreen adapted to effect the removal of foreign substance from theseparated fiber; a

; roller cooperating with said. screen .and

a 'fan adapted to create suction in said first and second named pipeswhereby to convey mittin 5 suction through either of said pipes andpreventing suction in the other thereof; 'and intermittently actuatedmeans for moving said valve, substantially as descrilwd.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

' JAMES A. SHIELDS.

\Vitnesses \V. CARROLL La'rnuan, Anni-arr E. MAYER;

said gin, providinga conduit for the fiber;-

the material therethrough: a valve for per--

